Brio Stacking Clown - Review

The age gap between C and E is pretty close (2 years) but I've noticed that many of the toys that C owns and plays with are a little too old for E who is 18 months.

We recently had the opportunity for her to try out Brio's Stacking Clown which is suitable for children aged 19 months+. This is a classic toy from 1955 and you can really see why it's been popular for so many years. As soon as E saw the box, she was trying to prise it open to get playing. I think she was attracted to the bright colours.

Inside the box is the base and stick and eight rings of different shapes and sizes to slot on the stick. E has never really perfected these fine motor skills before so I was eager to see if she knew what to do. Straight away, she was picking up rings and slotting them on. She even had a little technique where she placed her thumb in the hole and slotted it on the opposite side, ensuring that she still had a good grip. We didn't have any incidences of her not lining it up properly so I was really impressed! 

The rings are the perfect size for her little hands. Of course, she was putting them on in any order she liked but when I played with her and told her what colour to lift, she did try. She hasn't really learned her colours yet but I think this will be a great help for us over the next few months and she'll start to recognise them. 

After watching his little sister playing, C (3.5 years) wanted to try too. The big difference with the two of them is that C can tell what order the shapes go to make it look like a clown. I think from watching and helping her brother, E will get there eventually too.

The Brio Stacking Clown has been loved by both children and by me too. I honestly cannot fault it. I love wooden toys as they tend to be durable and long lasting. With a boisterous boy, the pieces have been thrown a little! All of the pieces are well-made with no sharp edges or issues of paint flaking off. I would definitely recommend this and at £13.99 I think it's really affordable too for the quality. This is the first Brio product that we've tried and doing this review and looking at the website, I have some other gift ideas for upcoming birthdays!

You can find out more about the range available at the Brio website and you can also keep up to date on their new Twitter account. 

(We received this item for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.) 

Colours Colours Everywhere - book review

Book reviews are my absolute favourite posts. My two kids (aged 3 and 1) have probably 100+ books between them. Reading was a big part of my life when I was little (and still is now!) and it is so important to read with your children from an early age. As soon as E was born, I introduced her to C's old baby books and we progressed from there. We recently received Colours Colours Everywhere to read with E.

E is such a little sponge. C didn't really speak much until he turned two but E picks up everything, probably from copying her big brother. I was excited to read this to her to introduce to different colours and maybe get her saying them.

Colours Colours Everywhere is a chunky, hardbacked book with cut outs on the front of some of the items inside. Each page contains the colour in huge lettering along with some items that are that colour. For example, on the red page there are items like a strawberry and ladybird and the black page has a cat, spider and lots of others. I mentioned that on the front cover. This is because on each page of the items is on raised cardboard so it pops through. At the end there is a massive rainbow finale that covers both pages.

I was totally right when I said that I was hoping it would encourage her to say colours but it brings so much more. She loves pointing at all the different pictures of animals and other items and likes to try repeating what I say. The addition of rhymes to do with the colours is a great idea and I think the more we read it, the more likely it is to stick in her head because of this. The cut outs on the front, alongside the raised cardboard pieces, encourage her to touch the pages and really get into it. I think it's a lovely little book, perfect for ages 0-3 to teach them about colours.

In April this year, they will also be releasing Numbers Numbers Everywhere. I will definitely have to pick up a copy judging by how much E has loved this one!

Colours Colours Everywhere is written and illustrated by Libby Walden and Samantha Meredith, respectively, and it is published by Little Tiger Press. You can purchase it from all good book retailers and it's currently available on Amazon for £6.94.