Grandma gave us all some vouchers for Christmas, which we went to spend last weekend. In the window was a huge display of Legends Of Chima Lego, this immediately drew our attention and 'in the flesh' we could see it was far more exciting than we'd expected. With the UK release of the Lego Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets still another 2 1/2 weeks away on February 15th it seemed a great idea to have a closer look. We bought 2 sets in the end - 70001 Crawley’s Claw Ripper, and 70115 Ultimate Speedor Tournament.

Lego Legends Of Chima ~ 70001 ~ Crawley's Claw Ripper

Lego Legends Of Chima ~ 70115 ~Ultimate Speedor Tournament

 

This set has 246 pieces and retails at around £19.99. The recommended age range is 7-12. It has 2 minifigures of the Croc and Lion in full battle regalia, 2 themed Speedors vehicles with rip cords, 4 weapons, 2 torches, a Chi Orb pedestal, 2 Chi orbs, game cards and Chi (jewels) and a large lion themed target with a huge mane. 
 

 This set has far more going on than you'd realise at first glance. The Chi can be prizes which you win by knocking balls (Chi orbs) from the pedestal or by hitting the target within the lions mouth using your Speedors, or 'lives' when playing the card game. The minifigures and Speedors are really beautifully done, and work really well. They travel very quickly, propelled by the rip cords in such a way that it's really easy for anyone to use them.


The way the minifigures sit in their Speedor means that they have never fallen off and are really secure, so you spend hardly any time at all rebuilding after crashes. The target within the lions mouth is really clear and spacious, and you can actually aim and hit it with only a modicum of skill and a little careful judgement. (Because I was playing with 2 young children I replaced the blue plastic Chi orbs with Maltesers to demonstrate on this occasion).
 

We've not yet had a proper game using the game cards supplied, but that will add another dimension to the simpler 'hit the targets' which we have been playing, introducing the idea of a finite number of turns before somebody has won 6 rounds and is announced the winner.


I think this set represents good value for money and offers tons of play value, and the 'game' element is easily adaptable for different abilities. The Speedors travel really well and are great fun to play with on their own!

Overall we're impressed with Lego Chima. It has several different levels of play available, from the build to the vehicles and characters, through to a very competitive game. It'll certainly keep us busy until the Lego Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are available - and I forsee turtles v lions v crocs after February 15th!

I hate it when the kids are ill. Of course I do, I'm their Mum, I want them to be happy and they can't really be happy when they're roasting hot and feeling rubbish and have snot bubbles so impressive I want to take photo's. I also don't function quite so well on a few hours broken sleep, and nor do children.

Everyone round here seems to run their kids to the Doctors when they're ill, and as a rule I don't. In fact boy no.4 has not been since he was 6 months old and he's nearly 3. I don't know if it's being around babies and toddlers since I was 8, or just sheer complacency, but it's worked okay so far (well, except for the time I waited four days before taking boy no.1 to A&E and he turned out to have broken his arm, but he never told us it hurt, not once, so I'm pretty sure I'm at least partly absolved from blame for that one). What will the Doctor say that I don't already know? "It's a virus, give him plenty of fluids, keep him cool and if he's not better in 2 days come back". I don't agree with giving antibiotics for mild Tonsilitis or anything they can kick off themselves in a couple of days, and I do take them if they aren't getting better, but I know I'm in the minority each time my kids catch something everyone else around here gets and they've all met up in the surgery. Heck, I only ring in if someone gets Chicken Pox so that it goes on their record. I can't work out if my Doctor thinks I'm a risk-taker or a blessing....


Boy no.4 will be fine, we've all already had this bug, so he's getting lots of sympathy and love, and besides boy no.3 has it all worked out that he's "going to stay downstairs and sleep on the sofa tonight to take care of him"*......


*4 year old speak for "I will stay awake all night, really really, and I will get to play with the Lego and watch Ben 10 on the telly until morning and I'll have the best time ever, and I won't be scared of the dark, or the quiet, or being without a grown up, and I won't just fall asleep around 10pm from boredom and exhaustion........oh yeah, and I'll sit in the living room and scream a lot until you come down if he's sick".....and if you think I'll let him - no.

I hate seeing myself on camera. I think it was summed it up perfectly once on a TV show by Dylan Moran, "did I really get that fat? And I'm not that old". Thing is, I know most people feel like that, and somehow that makes me feel better about it.

Video is a whole new dimension of torture, with added movement and sound. You can't just film a little bit of your face, or pose in the best soft light and take 1427 pictures until you find one that's acceptable.
Doing review videos has meant that I've had to get over my fear and loathing and get a little used to what I actually look like, rather than the self-image of me at 23 before life and 6 children took their toll. I find it helps if you bear in mind that most people who see it don't know you, and those who do know what you look like anyway (including at the end of the night when you've had a couple or more beverages and your mascara is sliding down your face and your carefully chosen outfit looks like you slept in it).

Here's my video application to continue to be a part of the Izziwizzi Kids reviewers panel. Well worth the cringing and the wailing about how frizzy my cloud of hair looked that day (which was in part due to the weather that I'd waited for especially so that I could film the snow). Hopefully It'll all be worth it!

If you want to apply then you'd better get your camera/phone/Innotab out sharpish and post your video on the Izziwizzi Kids Facebook wall, fill in the online application form and sit back. Rest assured we won't be laughing at you, we'll just be jealous that you turned the lights down before you started, or had dancing girls and fireworks in your video!

Applications close after Playfest tomorrow night (Thursday 31st January 2013). Best of luck, don't break a leg...

I know it makes everything really hard work, but it's so beautiful and calming....I could look at it for hours :)

After reading Yummy Mummy Flabby Tummy's hilarious post today - No Privacy In The Loo - I felt I had to respond.

When no2 and no3 were 7 and 5 they used to pass me notes under the door ranging from 'I'm hungry' or 'Are you okay?' through to 'I need you Mummy' and 'I hate you having a wee'....

As they get older they tend to learn not to just barge straight in, and give a tentative knock before asking the least important and most inane question they can think of. For bonus points they will calmly mention something that demands I leave the bathroom immediately to sort it out. This can be 'I have to go to School and need that £2', 'there's someone at the door' or 'I need my shoes/coat and they're in there'.

To step it up another notch we have the ones where you cringe as you leap up in a huge hurry "why have you got blood on you" being an often heard example.

The most plaudits however are gained when they know they really have you. You are up like a rocket and race from the bathroom with your knickers round your ankles, any self-respect gone. My personal and genuine all-time favourites are "what's that hissing noise in the kitchen?" and "why is my (2 year old) sister allowed on the ladder and I'm not?"....

Privacy in the loo? You might as well get one of those numbering systems like the ones they have at the cheese counter.... :D

I've always loved The Imagination Tree for the beautifully simple yet genius ideas they have for play. Their Snow Dough Winter Wonderland is gorgeous and loads of fun, and when boy no4 decided he wanted to play outside in the snow today, I really did have to catch up with the housework and getting tea sorted, but I thought straightaway how to keep us both happy (well, me less than him!).  

It might be real snow - but I wouldn't have thought to bring it in if we hadn't pretended beforehand - thank you Imagination Tree.


If it can go in the bath, it can usually go in the snow - and we'll be letting ours melt completely just to check we don't throw any treasure into the garden...(mainly because we aren't really meant to play with boy no2's Star Wars Lego when he's not even here, and they do have teeny tiny little snow goggles on)



Please ensure that any snow you use comes from an area that has not been fouled by animals or birds - we took ours from our own garden on the roof of the wendy house!

(Update - An hour later and ALL the snow is still in the box except one Mike The Knight snowballs a giraffe incident!)

I once said to a woman "I don't know what it's called", then felt bad I couldn't help her and tried to make light of it, joking "I have that thing where you can't remember names".
She looked me in the eye "Anomic Dysphasia?".
I was so stunned that she knew the name I got really excited, which she took to be because she'd reminded me of what it was called and I didn't have the heart to explain. Besides, I'd never see her again....probably....

7 years later that woman still thinks I can't remember names due to an actual medical condition......and I can't for the life of me remember her name....

I can't help myself, I really can't. I tried to stop myself posting a snow picture, and I've held on for nearly 24 hours now, but it's beaten me.

Snow is just far too much fun. When else can you peg something hard and stingy directly at the face of someone you don't really like, and all they can do is smile politely? What other opportunities arise where children learn so quickly that you are nearly always right - 'yes, you do need a jumper under your coat', 'wellies WILL be better than shoes', and 'gloves, even if they're those weird ones with flip over bits on the fingers, are better than no gloves'. When else do you get to make something that doesn't answer back, brings out the competitive creative streak in you and breaks a smile on the face of the people who see it (which is a lot of people if your garden is next to a Churchyard).

I love snow, I'd happily have more of it, so here is this years best effort ~ note the use of red/white potatoes to make actual eyeballs with pupils....stroke of creative genius obviously.... :)

Because we love Orchard Toys games it's no surprise that we asked Santa to bring some for Christmas.

We took advantage of the free postage for orders over £15 and ordered Where's My Cupcake? and What A Performance, which had both come highly recommended at Playfest on Twitter and Facebook. Where's My Cupcake was mainly for boy no.4, who is 3 in March, and What A Performance was for the whole family to play together. As with all Orchard Toys games and puzzles they are designed and manufactured in the UK from strong 100% recycled board. They have really bright colours, modern pictures and chunky pieces that don't bend or come apart during even quite boisterous play. They are built to be played with, and built to last.

Izziwizzi Kids is the brainchild of a lady named Al Boxall-Gordon - here is what it's all about, in her own words:

IzziwizziKids.co.uk was born way back in 2005 when Al Boxall-Gordon (a new mum at the time) who was finding world surrounding children, toys and play frustrating. At that time the emphasis on toys and play seemed to be very much centred around what was most profitable, rather than why different types of play were important and stimulating different types of play. And so it was…IzziwizziKids.co.uk was born originally as an e-commerce store, moving into online TV offering alternative toys and gifts that followed a new set of rules.