This Summer toy manufacturer Jazwares have released a brand new range of Angry Birds toys to tie in with recent Angry Birds 2 movie release, and we've been sent a bundle for review. We've been sent 1 x Feature Plush, 1 x Game Pack and 1 x Catablind (Splat Ball)...


Excuse the pyjamas! Summer holidays are for relaxing... and throwing things at the door! I will start with the Splat Ball, or Catablind. We've been sent a green Angry Bird Piggy and he's proven very popular with my youngest.


I always discourage my children from throwing these at the ceiling, but somehow they always 'accidentally' end up there. At least we are in no doubts that it sticks well!

We've really enjoyed being Bandai STEM Ambassadors over the last 6 months, and the final tasks they've sent have been perfect for the Summer holidays. We've been sent National Geographic Gemstone and Shark Tooth Dig Kits and Ultimate Play Sand - a miniature sand pit with 2kg of colourful sand that never dries out and comes complete with 4 mini sand moulds...


The Bandai National Geographic STEM Kits are complete kits for children aged around 8+, and they contain everything you need, including tools. Each kit contains a Learning Guide, which is a short booklet full of images and information about the items you'll discover in the kit. They're brilliant, concise and always teach me something new.


The Dig Kits come complete with a double ended excavation tool, small brush, magnifying glass, instructions and a learning guide.


Dig Kits are packaged in a cardboard box, with a cardboard tray insert which can be used as a work surface. They keep all of the mess fairly well contained and can be recycled after use. Your fossils and gems are hidden in a decorative plaster block.


The Gemstone Dig Kit contains 3 real gemstones - Tiger's Eye, Quartz and Amethyst - and they're very pretty. They're also nicely varied, so children can tell instantly which is which. Once excavated you can clean them off by rinsing under water (put the plug in first), and then they catch the light really well. Or, as in our case, you can proudly show off just how carefully you exposed them!


The Shark Tooth Dig Kit contains 3 real fossilised shark teeth - Crow Shark, Otodus Shark and Sand Tiger. There's a fascination in our house with exceedingly long-lived animal species, so it's particularly interesting to us that although our Sand Tiger Shark tooth might be 100,000,000,000 years old (one hundred million), Sand Tiger Sharks still exist today.


My boys are 9 1/2 and almost 11, so I've been really pleasantly surprised at the amount of use the Ultimate Play Sand has received. This is a really neat little sandbox kit which works very well to keep everything tidy and safe.


The tray in the Ultimate Play Sand kit is plastic, but it is also your miniature sandbox, so it's definitely not single-use. Also included are 2lbs of play sand which never dries out, never makes dust and leaves your hands clean, plus 6 clever little sand 'castle' moulds.


These aren't just any old sandcastle, the moulds are actually 6 historical buildings, something my older boys really latched on to. All week ancient civilisations have been battling it out in my living room...


The sand is kinetic sand. Brightly coloured and fascinating to watch trickle out of your hand, it only sticks to the other sand. Very easy to scoop or sweep up and shouldn't ruin your carpet. It's actually quite mesmerising and incredibly relaxing to play with - whatever your age...










No entries are mandatory, but each action performed earns you extra entries into the random draw. The giveaway will end at midnight Sunday 29th September, full terms and conditions are at the bottom of the Gleam form. For a link to help if Gleam is new to you, or to see my other UK giveaways, see my Giveaways Page...

National Geographic Gemstone Dig Kit Giveaway (age 8+)

ZunTold Publishing’s next release is the third instalment in the hilarious Gangster School series by Kate Wiseman, Gruffles And The Killer Sheep, and we've been sent a copy to review as part of the Book Tour to promote release on 2nd September.

Recommended for children aged 6-13, although this book is third in a series, it also works as a standalone story. Characters are introduced gradually and the setting becomes obvious and understandable within the first couple of pages.


Gruffles is the stinky pet dog belonging to Charlie Partridge, a pupil at Blaggard's School For Tomorrow's Tyrants. His best friend is fellow pupil Milly Dillane and neither of them particularly want to beome master criminals. Fortunately they get plenty of chances to hone their skills protecting their school and it's pupils...

This month for the Asmodee Blogger Board Game Club we've been sent a great family dice game for 2-6 players. Portable, easy to learn and fun to play, Dice Academy is all about thinking and acting fast, knowledge isn't always an advantage.


Dice Academy is housed in a very small and sturdy box with a magnetic closure. It arrives shrink-wrapped and inside has a plastic insert to keep your 10 special dice safe between play, but everything is kept neat and small. The only game components are the dice, which are all different.

Ellen Lives On is a young adult novel by Lynda Haddock which opens with the loss of a parent to suicide. This is a positive and empowering book, which offers real support to young people in the same situation, but obviously it has darker moments and for some readers it may be a hard read at first.

Ellen is 15 and returns home from school to find her front door blocked and no response from her mother inside. She calls on her neighbours for help, they ring the police, and her life stops. Just like that.


Instantly reading this book, it's obvious the author Lynda Haddock understands. She explains very well the confusion and dream-like state you enter. The way you are no longer in control and life happens to you. Everything you expected is turned on it's head and the plans you had made for years just don't count any more.

The police are in charge of your home, social workers and other people you barely know direct you. Strangers know who you are and express their sympathy for you in the street. And when you are told it'll never be the same again, it really won't.

Jibbergiggle is a great little card-based 3-8 player family game for anyone aged 8+, which is far more fun than you might at first realise. Take a Jibbergiggle Sound Card and a Scenario Card, and try to get the other players to guess your scenario - but the only noises you can make are the nonsense words on your Sound Card....


Suitable for 3-8 players, Jibbergiggle is packaged beautifully in a sturdy cardboard box and is only a little bigger than a pack of cards, so it's ideal to take out with you on holiday, travelling or visiting.

We love Just So Festival and my 9 and 10 year old boys were delighted when we were asked back again this year to review. We are big supporters of the team behind Just So, Wild Rumpus, who bring together nature and the arts to give families unique experiences they'll remember forever.


Just So Festival's 10th Anniversary took place in the usual Cheshire woodland location of Rode Hall and created a real festival to remember forever, and one for your CV if you work in events management!!


I've been to many, many festivals over the years and for the last 25 I've had children with me. It's really easy for it all to go wrong when the rain hits, and it hit Just So really hard. One month's rain in one day, as 5000 people arrive and attempt to start their festival weekend. It's the stuff of nightmares for any event organiser. They did fantastically.

The staff and volunteers gave everyone just enough leeway, and the festival attendees had enough common sense, to make it work safely for as many people as possible. I'm truly sorry to anyone who didn't make it in the end. For most of us at least, the festival went ahead virtually as planned.

It was a festival of the arts and the outdoors, and nature was determined to reassert the fact she is bigger than all of us.

Until 1st September Blackburn has changed it's name to Brickburn, as the world's first PAW Patrol brick trail has arrived and there are brick-built characters dotted throughout the town centre,

These incredible brick models of characters and buildings from the hit Nick Jr TV show is brought and presented to you by BRICKLIVE. The pups are big and range in size from 75cm to 120cm high. There is also a 2m tall Lookout Tower, a head in the hole wall and a Marshall’s Fire Truck selfie-zone. Each of the 21 models has it's own fun facts sheet, and if you scan the QR codes you get an extra treat.


Closest parking is multi-storey on Church Street, but we found tons of car parks right in the centre of Blackburn Brickburn and prices were very fair at £3.70 for 4 hours. We used to visit often for the ice skating and swimming pool, but haven't really been into town before, so being able to park across the road was a nice surprise!

Our latest game review has been sent to us by Paul Lamond Games, and it's a very easy to play board game for 2-4 players, where you have to collect stolen treasure and get it safely stashed without being caught!

If you have young readers then the chances are you've heard of Gangsta Granny, the children's book by comedian and author David Walliams. The story features a young lad, Ben, whose Granny cares for him when his parents are busy. He thinks she's quite boring until he discovers she's secretly a jewel thief, and joins her on her next escapade...


Gangsta Granny Stash The Swag Board Game is packaged in a brilliant decorated tin. I love it and I have to say I was quite let down when I opened it.  It would have been excellent marks for usefulness and being Earth-friendly if it hadn't included a big plastic insert. Definitely Christmas morning-friendly though, instant open and play, no batteries or anything else required.

I worked with Dreamtex earlier this year because they sent my boys some awesome ISA NASA and Fallout Game bedding. I love their quality, bright colours and really modern, attractive prints.

They have impressed me even more now with their collaboration with National Geographic to produce bedding made from cotton and recycled plastic bottles - up to 12 in each set!


I wasn't under any obligation to post anything here, but I love this bedding so much that it seems criminal not to give you a closer look. Our world is full of waste plastic and it's time we sorted out just what we are going to do with it. Recycling is so much better than almost any current alternative.


So what is it like? Is recycled plastic bedding different to regular pillowcases and duvet covers? No. It feels just the same. It's still 50% cotton and 50% polyster, or poly/cotton as you may know it. The only difference is that this is 50% manufactured from waste plastic bottles.